At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
I really value feedback that I receive. More than anything, I am very very thankful for feedback from my CT. She always is in the room for at least some of the period, many times the whole thing..and instead of completely doing her own thing, she writes me notes on what I was doing great, and not so great. It is amazing to have day to day feedback, and feedback from someone who is a biology teacher! She offers me advice on teaching the direct content, not just in general. I am very grateful for that. She also points out some things that I may word funny, biology related or not. For example....I have been saying things along the line of "You can write down the homework now" and didn't think anything of it, until she told me it may be much more effective to say "Write down your homework now". I never even knew I was saying it like this, and little hints like this really help.
As I just stayed, my weakness really comes from me almost saying things too nice to them. Right now it doesn't really prove a problem, but in the long run I would be nervous as to how much authority they though I had, or respected me for. So not that I should be mean....but I really need to be more assertive.
Some of my strengths include me being quick on my feet and being able to be flexible and explain things in multiple ways. Also, since I am very strong in my content area, it really helps when students ask questions....especially some ask crazy questions you wouldn't expect, or not completely related.
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
So far my evaluations have gone quite well. The first was an observation during my 'Osmosis in Gummy Bears' lab. I received very high marks and the feedback was extremely generous. I would have to say that during that particular lab toward the end of the period the students were running out of things to do because they "whizzed" right through the lab. I did have enough planned but because one part was gathering class wide data this became a little noisy as I was just having individual groups read off their findings. From that day forward I have always made a data table on the board that students would physically come up and put their information on. This gets them out of their seats and everybody is involved at once. However, order still needs to be maintained during this time so it is done in an organized fashion and with concise directions.
My second evaluation was during a day that I was giving a quiz, showing an introductory video and giving notes to go along with the video. During the video there were two girls that had their heads resting on their arms as they watched. I made sure during the video to make my rounds around the classroom and also kept a close eye on the girls resting their heads. I did make sure they were watching and could always see that they were engaged in the movie. I talked about this with Maurice and he gave some advice explaining that he liked the fact that I made sure they were watching but to make my life a little easier in the high school to just not allow heads on arms or desks. He explained that they are very tired in the morning and if I allowed them to "rest" their heads during the movie that they would easily fall asleep and then that would be another hurdle to jump over.
Overall, my evaluations went very well. I am excited to begin my second half of student teaching at North Kingstown High School.
I think at this point my biggest weakness is my lack of thoroughness. I am teaching what I know, but because I am so familiar with the topic there are things that I can just breeze right over which may be essential to the students learning and not even realize that the student may not have collected, or even had the opportunity to collect, all the necessary information they need to have a full understanding of a concept or an idea. I also need to work on displaying to the students why we may be learning or discussing a certain topic. In my head, I know why a topic needs to be learned. I think I can not truly become a great or thorough teacher until I discover ways to help the student also understand why a topic needs to be learned.
One of my great strengths to this point, in my opinion, is that I am able to spot whether or not the class is understanding what I am saying to them. I don't think they are afraid to ask questions, and that helps make my job much easier. But, as I mentioned before, I feel that if I were more thorough than I could reduce the questions and have the opportunity to increase class time. Not that I don't want them to ask questions. I just think that if I got all the details straight the first time, then more time could be spent on keeping the rest of the class on task.
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
My strenghths so far with student teaching have been that i have gotten my timing down with the execution of my lessons. I have also found lots of activities to keep my students engaged and i have been able to break down the topics to the learning level that my students are at. In addition, i have been able to diversify my teaching and lessons for my students who struggle and have IEP's. Some weaknesses that i still need to work on are mostly classroom management. I have been having a hard time motivating some students and many of my classes have become a little too chatty. Also, I have been more focused on making sure that the content i'm teaching is correct that i think i am not as focused on whether my students are getting what i'm teaching. This is something that i am going to have to continuously work on because it is more important that my students get what i am teaching then me knowing everything and anything about my content. Hopefully this will come with time.
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
Derek D'Antuono
Over the first seven weeks of the semester I have learned a great deal about teaching but I clearly need to improve on many things. First is classroom management, because in my first seven weeks I had trouble sometimes keeping the kids focused on the lesson. Although majority of the time they were focused when they weren't it was a struggle to get them back. I believe that it needs to start right from the beginning being a little tougher on the students. I have also realized both from self reflection and from my CT that I need to recognize when the students are truly getting it or are just agreeing with me. Though I feel like I improved on that over the last couple of weeks with my students. Lastly right now I realize that I need to recognize exactly what level the questions are that I ask on test and quizzes. That way I can give them a variety of questions to test all levels of students.
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
So far my strengths include being able to make connections between daily objectives and the overall objectives of our unit, creating good transitions between class activities with minimal wasted time, and addressing student misconceptions on informal assessments. In addition, I have become experienced at directing class discussions through asking thought provoking questions.
One of the challenges that I still face in my teaching includes being able to relay important concepts at the end of class. Another challenge that I still face every weekend when I try to plan out my next week's lessons is time management. Even after spending these past 6 weeks teaching, I still have trouble gauging just how long activities will take to complete. It feels as though there is just never enough time.
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
During the second half of my student teaching I will need to focus more on classroom management, an area I first considered a strength. After talking with my CT, she pointed out that when I'm giving instruction, many times the students are not paying attention. She's suggested that I COMMAND their attention; stop delivering instruction until "all eyes are on me." Another suggestion to gain their attention was to shut off the lights - I've done this in the past, and it only works occasionally. So today during the clean-up (there was more socializing than cleaning) of a plasticity lab, the "light trick" didn't work. I told the students it was time to go, but I wouldn't dismiss them until the lab materials were ready for the next class - that each table needed to look like it had when they began lab. That got their attention...it was time for them to go to PE.
Another challenge is the different paces of activity completion. There are some students who always finish sooner than others and they will distract those who haven't finished. At the beginning of lab today, I assigned questions/text reading as homework (ON FRIDAY??!!) so that those who finished early had something to do with the remaining class time. I also told them that the questions were due on Monday and no late work would be accepted. (Keeping up with grades, missing assignments and "who owes what" is a nightmare!)
At this point, you have probably been observed by both your URI instructors and your CTs. Take a few minutes to reflect on the feedback you've received. What have been your strengths and what challenges in your teaching will you need to address during the second half of your student teaching?
I think my strenght has been the fact that I generally get a long well with my students and they've been pretty receptive to my teaching. They generally cooperate with me quite nicely. Also, I've tried to plan activities in which they can interact within a group. This usually goes well because they really like to socialize. Students in each of the three different classes have told me that they like "these little activities" I plan for them.
I have several challanges that I've encountered and that I need to work on. First, I need to plan much,much better and be much more organized. Also, I need to create more unity in what I'm trying to teach to them. I feel that in our current unit, I covered topics in a "choppy" way. If I would do this unit again, I would build it up from the very simplest concept and finish it with an end-of -the unit project. Currently, I just sort of covered the chapter and gave them an end-of-the chapter test. I don't think this was the best way I could have done this.
Also, another challenge is classroom management. I should have explained my rules right in the beginning and then I should have enforced them continually in the past six weeks. I thought that if I'm nice and respectful towards them, they would reciprocate it. Unfortunately, it's definitely not the case with everyone (certain students really do need rules and consequences). So for future reference, I will make sure to explain my rules and expectations very clearly and then follow through with the consequences.
I was lucky enough that my CT was extremely helpful to me. She observed all my class for the first two weeks and we discussed the class right after words. This is just like with all teaching in getting the feedback as soon as possible. The strengths in my teaching were my energy that I brought into the classroom. The students would feed off my energy and really get involved in the class. Some of the areas that I needed to work on was my time management. Be able to sense when it was time to move on as well as when the students need extra time to work. Going along with that was when students ask questions, knowing which questions were the right questions to go into conversations with for that great learning opportunity and which questions I give a quick response and move on. When I ask a critical thinking question, how much time is enough time to give the students and when should I jump in and help them out. Also to follow my lesson plan. My lesson plans have been improving, but I don’t always follow through with them. If I can make these improvements I believe that my teaching will improve a great deal.
Mid-Semester Reflections On Our Teaching
One of my great strengths to this point, in my opinion, is that I am able to spot whether or not the class is understanding what I am saying to them. I don't think they are afraid to ask questions, and that helps make my job much easier. But, as I mentioned before, I feel that if I were more thorough than I could reduce the questions and have the opportunity to increase class time. Not that I don't want them to ask questions. I just think that if I got all the details straight the first time, then more time could be spent on keeping the rest of the class on task.
My strenghths so far with student teaching have been that i have gotten my timing down with the execution of my lessons. I have also found lots of activities to keep my students engaged and i have been able to break down the topics to the learning level that my students are at. In addition, i have been able to diversify my teaching and lessons for my students who struggle and have IEP's. Some weaknesses that i still need to work on are mostly classroom management. I have been having a hard time motivating some students and many of my classes have become a little too chatty. Also, I have been more focused on making sure that the content i'm teaching is correct that i think i am not as focused on whether my students are getting what i'm teaching. This is something that i am going to have to continuously work on because it is more important that my students get what i am teaching then me knowing everything and anything about my content. Hopefully this will come with time.
Derek D'Antuono
Over the first seven weeks of the semester I have learned a great deal about teaching but I clearly need to improve on many things. First is classroom management, because in my first seven weeks I had trouble sometimes keeping the kids focused on the lesson. Although majority of the time they were focused when they weren't it was a struggle to get them back. I believe that it needs to start right from the beginning being a little tougher on the students. I have also realized both from self reflection and from my CT that I need to recognize when the students are truly getting it or are just agreeing with me. Though I feel like I improved on that over the last couple of weeks with my students. Lastly right now I realize that I need to recognize exactly what level the questions are that I ask on test and quizzes. That way I can give them a variety of questions to test all levels of students.
So far my strengths include being able to make connections between daily objectives and the overall objectives of our unit, creating good transitions between class activities with minimal wasted time, and addressing student misconceptions on informal assessments. In addition, I have become experienced at directing class discussions through asking thought provoking questions.
One of the challenges that I still face in my teaching includes being able to relay important concepts at the end of class. Another challenge that I still face every weekend when I try to plan out my next week's lessons is time management. Even after spending these past 6 weeks teaching, I still have trouble gauging just how long activities will take to complete. It feels as though there is just never enough time.
During the second half of my student teaching I will need to focus more on classroom management, an area I first considered a strength. After talking with my CT, she pointed out that when I'm giving instruction, many times the students are not paying attention. She's suggested that I COMMAND their attention; stop delivering instruction until "all eyes are on me." Another suggestion to gain their attention was to shut off the lights - I've done this in the past, and it only works occasionally. So today during the clean-up (there was more socializing than cleaning) of a plasticity lab, the "light trick" didn't work. I told the students it was time to go, but I wouldn't dismiss them until the lab materials were ready for the next class - that each table needed to look like it had when they began lab. That got their attention...it was time for them to go to PE.
Another challenge is the different paces of activity completion. There are some students who always finish sooner than others and they will distract those who haven't finished. At the beginning of lab today, I assigned questions/text reading as homework (ON FRIDAY??!!) so that those who finished early had something to do with the remaining class time. I also told them that the questions were due on Monday and no late work would be accepted. (Keeping up with grades, missing assignments and "who owes what" is a nightmare!)
I think my strenght has been the fact that I generally get a long well with my students and they've been pretty receptive to my teaching. They generally cooperate with me quite nicely. Also, I've tried to plan activities in which they can interact within a group. This usually goes well because they really like to socialize. Students in each of the three different classes have told me that they like "these little activities" I plan for them.
I have several challanges that I've encountered and that I need to work on. First, I need to plan much,much better and be much more organized. Also, I need to create more unity in what I'm trying to teach to them. I feel that in our current unit, I covered topics in a "choppy" way. If I would do this unit again, I would build it up from the very simplest concept and finish it with an end-of -the unit project. Currently, I just sort of covered the chapter and gave them an end-of-the chapter test. I don't think this was the best way I could have done this.
Also, another challenge is classroom management. I should have explained my rules right in the beginning and then I should have enforced them continually in the past six weeks. I thought that if I'm nice and respectful towards them, they would reciprocate it. Unfortunately, it's definitely not the case with everyone (certain students really do need rules and consequences). So for future reference, I will make sure to explain my rules and expectations very clearly and then follow through with the consequences.